United
by JPHBK
Summary: Part 22 of my post "Justice League" film series. Darkseid begins an attack on Metropolis. The team moves to stop him even though Arthur and Clark are still M.I.A. They give it all they got to stop Darkseid's attack. Victor comes to a realization during the battle. Will help come in time? Will help come at all?


Disclaimer: DC owns the characters within, not I.

"Victor!" Barry called out instinctively when his teammate sat straight up on the bed in front of him. Barry jumped from the desk next to Bruce and hurried to his side.

"Barry?" Victor responded groggily as he turned to see a concerned look on the face of Barry. He glanced behind him to see Bruce approaching as well.

"Hey... how are you feeling?" Bruce asked as he moved to stand next to Barry.

"Not so good..." Victor said as his hand went up to rub the flesh on his forehead.

"Yeah... it's good to have you back and talking," Barry commented. Victor cocked his head slightly.

"How long have I been out?" Victor questioned.

"It's been a couple of days now I think," Bruce responded. "What's the last thing you remember?"

"Um..." Victor considered the question. He pointed out into the hallway. "I was out there and then... black.. everything went black... until just now."

"So you remember nothing?" Bruce asked.

"No... care to fill me in?" Victor asked as he swung his legs across the side of the bed and looked up at the two men who were looking at each other. "I take it... it's bad news?"

"You could say that," Barry answered. Victor nodded. "Where's the rest of the team?"

"I'm here," Diana's voice from the doorway garnered everyone's attention. Bruce moved to meet her as she crossed the room. "It's good to see you awake, Victor."

"Thanks," Victor responded, his head still full of questions. He began to remove some of the things plugged into him.

"Where's Clark?" Bruce asked. Diana turned from Victor to look up at him.

"He's... he revived and went on into the sun," Diana answered.

"What?" Barry questioned.

"Yeah... if someone could fill me in that'd be great," Victor added. Bruce turned to him.

"You were attacked... we all were," Bruce explained.

"Who?" Victor questioned.

"His name is Darkseid," Barry answered. Victor glanced at him as the name sounded familiar to him.

"He is the one that's been searching for the box?" Victor asked as he finally got to his feet. Barry reached out to steady him but he shook his head indicating he was okay.

"Yes," Bruce replied.

"What happened?" Victor questioned further, his attention moving to Diana who uncharacteristically seemed disengaged from the conversation.

"He is strong..." Bruce replied.

"Understatement," Diana added. Bruce nodded.

"He took us down," Bruce responded. "Arthur is hurt... recovering in Atlantis... and Clark..."

"He nearly died," Diana finished for him. Victor shook his head as he absorbed the information.

"You said he went into the sun... I don't," Victor question, confused.

"The sun... it's his source of strength... it was the only thing we could think that would save him," Bruce began. "Diana took him there."

"He should be back soon," Diana stated.

"Right," Victor replied. "So... where is this Darkseid now?"

As if on cue, Alfred's voice from the main hall infiltrated the room as he called for the team. They all made their way to join him. And upon entering the room the understood the urgency in his voice. On the large screen in front of Alfred was an image of Darkseid's ship hover over the bay between Metropolis and Gotham.

"He's... going to destroy it all," Bruce stated, his voice grim as he remembered his warning.

"Is he searching for the box?" Victor questioned.

"Yes.. he has two... but not the third," Bruce replied.

"We got to get those back," Victor said emphatically.

"How can we... stop him... we need S.. Clark and Arthur," Barry spoke up.

"We have to try..." Diana stated.

"Right," Bruce agreed. "Let's go."

(****)

Darkseid stepped out of his ship and hovered in the air in front of it. He glanced at the cities in front of him. He felt an energy. An energy he knew belonged to the other box. He couldn't pinpoint it but was determined to take it all to the ground until he found it. He focused his attention on a large skyscraper located at the edge of the bay and blasted it with his omega beam. He gave a sinister snort as it began to crumble.

Darkseid was just about to unleash on the building next to it when gunfire began crashing against his chest. He looked down at the large ammo bouncing off of him before looking up to discover the source. He was black craft approaching him at a high rate of speed and before he could move to react two large missiles moved into view in front of the craft.

Batman maneuvered the jet around to get free from the impact of the missiles he had just unleashed on Darkseid. He glanced behind him to see the explosion and then quickly course corrected on the jet to hover and face the direction of the impact to survey the damage. His eyes widened as the smoke cleared and he saw Darkseid holding one of the missiles in his hand.

He braced for impact as Darkseid hurled the missile back at him. The impact didn't come though as Cyborg entered his field of vision and blasted the missile before it reached him.

"I think it's time you went back to where you came from," Cyborg stated as he flew at top speed towards Darkseid. He swung his fist but it was caught inside the much larger palm of his foe. He struggled to break loose from the grip but could not.

"So... you have broken free of my hold..." Darkseid commented as he held Cyborg in his grasp. "You were safer there."

Darkseid with one quick spin flung Victor as the jet hovering in the distance and watched as the impact caused an explosion that sent it all crashing to the street below. He had little time to examine the damage before he felt a large impact from behind that sent him tumbling through the air. He corrected himself and turned in time to see Wonder Woman approaching him at a rapid speed.

"Foolish..." Darkseid began to speak but was silenced by a powerful punch that closed his mouth. Wonder Woman unleashed a barrage of punches until Darkseid gathered his wits and retaliated with a backhand that knocked her into the side of a nearby building. Darkseid lowered himself to the ground to approach the wreckage below. He saw Cyborg pulling Batman out of the flames and prepared his Omega beam to take both out.

"No, you don't," Darkseid heard briefly in his air before he found himself moving quickly down the street. Everything was a blur as he struggled to orientate himself. He felt a grip around his waist and struggled against the air to look down to see two red arms wrapped around him. Darkseid reached down and broke the grip which sent him and the Flash tumbling across the blacktop in the middle of a crowded intersection.

"Impressive," Darkseid spoke as he got to his feet and looked at the scarlet speedster lying on the ground at his feet. He reached down and scooped him off the ground. "I've never seen anyone move that fast."

"Thanks... now can you put me down?" Flash asked as he struggled to catch a breath in the monster's grip.

"Surely," Darkseid responded as he hurled the Flash down the street.

Flash cried out in pain when he first impacted the blacktop in his slide. He struggled to stop his momentum but the force in which he was thrown was too strong. He began to tumble helplessly down the street tearing up the asphalt as he went. All he could think of was how he owed Bruce a thank you for the new armor his suit was constructed out of.

"Are you two okay?" Wonder Woman asked as he made her way from the debris of the building she had crashed into and out into the street.

"Relatively," Batman answered as he glanced back at his wrecked jet.

"Where is he?" Wonder Woman questioned.

"I think Barry took him..." Cyborg replied with a nod down the street. He focused his vision to see an object approaching them at a high rate of speed.

"What is it?" Batman asked as he saw the look on Cyborg's face.

"It's Barry..." Cyborg responded before outstretching his arms and catching The Flash in them.

"Barry!" Wonder Woman called out as she raced over to him. She steadied his head between her hands as he opened his eyes. "Are you okay?"

"I'm... ouch," The Flash answered as he glanced behind him at Victor who was supporting his body.

"Good thing your armor held up," Batman said as he walked over to survey the damage on it.

"Yeah.. thanks... for it..." Flash responded as he moved to stand on his own.

"Watch out!" Cyborg called out as he raised his arm and blasted a car flying at the group. From behind the smoke, Darkseid's silhouette appeared.

Wonder Woman attacked first. She butted him in the chest with her shield enough to offset his footing. Then she slashed at him with her sword. It created a gash across his forearm as he moved to deflect the blow. Darkseid reached for Wonder Woman but was blinded by an explosion in his courtesy of a small grenade from Batman.

"I grow tired..." Darkseid began to speak but was interrupted by a large blast from Cyborg's cannon. The impact caused him to stumble backward. He recognized it as power from the Motherbox and grew slightly concerned. He had no time to gather another thought before he saw a blur rise over the group and red boot hit him under the chin and he fell back into a parked truck.

"I owed you that one," Flash stated as he landed and fell back into formation with the rest of the team.

"We can't let up..." Batman began.

"He is... it's not enough," Cyborg commented as he analyzed the beast recovering in front of them. "I hit him with my strongest blast."

"We just have to keep hitting him," Wonder Woman countered as she ran over and used her lasso to subdue him. Flash took advantage of this and raced over and began to unleash punches as Darkseid struggled to break from the tight grip the lasso had on him.

"Bruce..." Cyborg spoke as he reached over to stop him before he could join the attack. Batman glanced down at his hand on his chest. "We got to find a way to send him back."

"We will... but we got to fight," Batman started to move Cyborg's hand off his chest but couldn't budge it. He glanced at Cyborg who was shaking his head.

"We are wasting our time here..." Cyborg continued. "You have to get me to the other box."

"What are you talking about?" Batman questioned.

"I think... I can create a... portal to send him back... but I need at least one of the boxes," Cyborg stated. Batman glanced up just as Darkseid broke from the lasso and swatted The Flash aside. He was now fending off a barrage of skilled attacks from Wonder Woman.

"We can't just abandon the fight," Batman replied. Just as he said this a loud crash behind them caused them both to turn to the bay to see Aquaman emerging from it along with an army behind him.

Eye contact between Batman and Aquaman was all that was exchanged before the army raced past them led by Aquaman.

"What is this?" Darkseid questioned as he found himself surrounded by the Atlantean army. He got no further words out before he began to be blasted by many different weapons as they closed in.

"Okay... this should buy us enough time," Cyborg said as he turned his attention back to Batman.

"Alright," Batman agreed. "It's.."

"I'll need your help," Cyborg cut him off. Batman turned to see the army along with his other teammates making some headway into overwhelming Darkseid. He then nodded and turned back to Cyborg.

"Come on," Batman said.

(****)

"Diana... are you okay?" Aquaman asked as he crawled across two Atlantean soldiers and reached her fallen body. She nodded as she opened her eyes and the two got to their feet. Aquaman glanced around to see a good portion of his army had fallen while the rest valiantly fought against Darkseid.

"He is too strong," Aquaman remarked.

"He is... but..." Wonder Woman hesitated. Aquaman was about to speak but before he could a light above them garnered his attention. They both looked up to see a portal opening and Aquaman cursed under his breath as he saw the first glimpse of a Parademon flying out of it. Soon the sky was full of them.

"Meet my army," Darkseid stated as he motioned for them to attack. They swooped down and were soon engaged in combat with the Atlanteans.

"This is not good..." Flash spoke up as he approached Wonder Woman and Aquaman.

"Where are Victor and Bruce?" Wonder Woman asked as she looked for them in the melee.

"I saw them taking off..." Aquaman answered.

"Where?" Wonder Woman questioned furrowing her brow.

"I don't know... I just assumed it was part of the plan," Aquaman replied with a shrug as he retrieved his trident from the ground. "But... we don't have time to look for them."

Wonder Woman turned to see Darkseid floating towards them. She looked to her side to see Flash stumble a little as he moved into a defensive stance. She sighed and stepped forward. She mumbled something under her breath.

"What was that?" Aquaman asked. He heard her speaking, but couldn't make out the words. She seemed to be pumping herself up with a pep talk. He moved to attack Darkseid but stopped when he saw Wonder Woman raise into the air in front of him.

"What is she doing?" Flash asked as he looked up at her and then over at Aquaman.

"I have no idea..." He answered with a shrug. He looked up at her. "Princess?"

Wonder Woman's whole body began to glow as lightning came down from the sky and crackled over her body. This gave Darkseid paused as he stopped. Aquaman and The Flash stepped back as well.

"You force me to do this," Wonder Woman said as she moved to crash her bracelets together. A large bolt of white energy came out from the bracelets and headed towards Darkseid. He managed to emit an Omega beam blast in time to meet the blast halfway. To his surprise, the energy from Wonder Woman crashed through his beam and there was an explosion that rocked the whole area.

Flash moved to grab Aquaman and raced them for cover in the nearby sea. He glanced up just before they sunk into the water to see the impact had evaporated the entire Parademon army as they hovered over the fallen Atlanteans.

Once underwater, Aquaman quickly gathered his bearings and helped Flash back to the surface. They breached the water to see the smoke clearing with Wonder Woman standing while Darkseid was on the ground turning over to his side.

"Woah..." Aquaman commented as the two got up and checked on nearby soldiers.

"So..." Darkseid commented as he got to his feet without taking his eyes off of Wonder Woman. "I have to admit that I didn't expect that."

He stood upright fully and began to make a show of dusting himself off. He grimaced slightly as his hand came across an open wound just above his chest. He cocked his head at Wonder Woman who stood stoically.

"I expect though..." Darkseid continued. He glanced around to see his army had been destroyed. "You were expecting that I be destroyed."

Wonder Woman charged him and punched him hard. He stepped back a couple of steps and rubbed his chin as the energy crackled around her body.

"I hate to disappoint you though..." Darkseid continued.

Once more another punch from the Amazonian spun him around and onto the hood of a car. He straightened himself up once more and cracked his neck before turning back to her.

"Even with all of your great power..." Darkseid's monologue began once more.

Wonder Woman retrieved her sword and plunged it into the already open wound on Darkseid's chest. She forced him violently back into a wall. She stood mere inches from him as she pressed the sword further into him.

"It..." Darkseid spoke as he reached down and began to pull the sword from him, even as Wonder Woman attempted to run it through him. "Will not be enough."

"Why won't you die?" Wonder Woman asked with sincerity as she felt the strength of the relentless beast overpowering her.

"Because... unlike you..." Darkseid began he response as he moved the sword around to face Wonder Woman as she struggled against it. "I am a REAL god."

"No..." Wonder Woman said through gritted teeth as the blade pressed through the flesh just above her chest.

Flash and Aquaman watched in horror as Darkseid began to plunge Diana's own sword through her. Flash glanced over at Aquaman's trident and using his super speed and scooped it off the ground and prayed his idea would work. He took a couple of steps to get a good launch threw the trident. He watched in slow motion as it flew in the direction of Darkseid and Wonder Woman.

(****)

"Wait a minute... is this?" Cyborg questioned as he looked up at the apartment door in front of him.

"Yeah," Batman replied as he pushed the door open and entered the apartment. Cyborg followed him.

"Clark keeps it here?" Cyborg questioned. He expected to find the other box hidden in some secretive spot.

"For now... until I constructed a spot for it," Batman said as he moved into the bedroom and pulled up a few boards on the floor at the foot of the bed. He pulled a large safe up from the floor. He put in a code and opened it to reveal a box inside. He turned to Cyborg. "I mean... could you think of a safer place to keep it than with Clark?"

"Well... I mean... I guess not," Cyborg reasoned. Batman nodded.

"Neither could I," Batman responded as he put the box under his arm.

"We got to get it back to headquarters," Cyborg said. He motioned towards the window. "I'll fly us."

(****)

Wonder Woman opened her eyes as she heard a loud clang between her and Darkseid. She no longer felt the sword piercing her and looked to see Darkseid was now holding only a handle. She glanced over to see the blade in two pieces on the ground along with Aquaman's trident sticking into the side of a nearby building. She smiled momentarily before she began to fight against the grip Aquaman still had on her.

"Let her go!" Flash called out as he suddenly appeared next to Darkseid and began to pry along with her at his arm. Soon Aquaman came into her field of vision on the other side as he retrieved his Trident and it was now pressed against the open wound on Darkseid. This caused him to step back enough that his grip was broken.

"You okay?" Aquaman asked as he steadied Wonder Woman.

"I am now... thanks..." Wonder Woman responded with a nod to the Trident.

"That was all Barry," Aquaman replied. Wonder Woman turned to him and smiled. He responded before they fell into formation in front of a recovering Darkseid.

"This has gone on long enough... I don't know what has come over me to allow you to live as long as I have... I suppose I have grown bored and was looking for something to bring some excitement to my life," Darkseid mused as looked down the line at the team in front of him. He chuckled quietly as a large portal opened in the sky overhead.

"No..." Wonder Woman shook her head as she saw the large army of Parademons emerging from the portal. It was large enough to take up nearly the whole sky over the bay.

"That's too many..." Aquaman responded as he gripped his trident. Suddenly the sky lit up and it was as if it went from night to day. The sky was on fire.

"What in the..." The Flash commented as they watched the scene unfold in front of them. Realization dawned on those on the ground that it was not the sky that was on fire, but rather the army of thousands of Parademons.

"It can't be... how..." Darkseid's voice rose above its normally sinister even tone. He watched in amazement as the entire army of Parademons were evaporated to ash and the portal closed. "I don't understand."

"You will..." Wonder Woman stated with a smirk as she realized before anyone what had just happened.

"You somehow..." Darkseid began to move towards the three. But in an instant, an object landed in between them shattering the sidewalk they stood on. Darkseid struggled to stay upright from the impact.

"Kal..." Wonder Woman spoke as she saw subconsciously reached a hand out to touch the back of his flowing cape.

"Alright!" Aquaman exclaimed with joy at the arrival.

Superman's eyes were still glowing red from the blast of heat vision he had used to take out the army of Parademons.

"I thought I killed you..." Darkseid spoke, uncertainty in his voice for the first time since his arrival on earth. Superman merely shook his head and in a flash had grabbed Darkseid around the waist and the two disappeared up into the air.


End file.
